Peek inside this opulent historical mansion

Once home to the richest man in Ottawa, later owners have stayed true to mansion's glory

The opulence of the foyer in the former J.R. Booth home gives a sense of what's to come in the 1908 home, with extensive hand-carved wood and rich finishings.

Photograph by: Bruno Schlumberger
, The Ottawa Citizen

The announcement last month that the federal government would split the cost of repairs to one of Ottawa's premier historic buildings, which was damaged in the June 2010 earthquake, also offered an opportunity to sneak a peek inside the opulent former home of J.R. Booth.

The Metcalfe Street mansion, built in 1909, was designated a national historic site in 1990 and was also a designated provincial heritage building.

It's one of the rare buildings in Ottawa whose exterior and interior both have heritage designations, according to David Fleming, past president of Heritage Ottawa.

The effect of all the elements is one of grand opulence, and in its time, it was one of the city's most admired homes.

It also fit perfectly with the owner, a lumber and railway baron, who was also the wealthiest man in Ottawa and one of the most innovative businessmen of his time.

Designed by architect John W.H. Watts, Booth ensured the high quality of the extensive wood finishings by supplying much of the lumber himself.

Many of the original features remain, including the hand-carved woodwork, eight fireplaces - each one on the ground floor was finished with a different type of Italian marble - tapestried walls in the halls and stairways, most of the light fixtures and the cabinets and cupboards in the library and dining rooms.

At the time of his death in 1925, Booth was reported to have amassed a fortune of about $33 million.

In 1947, the family sold the patriarch's house, which became the Laurentian Club of Ottawa.

In 2001, Trinity Western University bought the house, which is now the Laurentian Leadership Centre and primarily used as a student residence.

Trinity Western split the $25,500 cost to repair the damage, which included work on two chimneys that had been in danger of collapsing and a brick wall.

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